Russia To Build Its Own "String Of Pearls"?

Eagle1 posted a good overview of Chinese maritime strategy over the weekend, but now we learn Russia may be looking to build its own "string of pearls" to influence global events:

Russia's military leaders approved a plan by the navy on Sunday to station warships permanently in friendly ports across the globe.
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"The General Staff has given its position on this issue and it fully supports the position of the (Navy's) main committee," deputy chief of staff Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn told RIA Novosti news agency.
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In August a Russian diplomat said the navy was to make more use of a Syrian Mediterranean Sea port. Last month a Russian warship cruised off Cuba after visiting South America for the first time since 1991.

Nogovitsyn said Russia was directly negotiating with foreign governments to station warships at bases around the world permanently, although he declined to give exact details.

"Nobody can predict where problems could flare up," he said. "What we need are permanent bases, but these are very costly. They need to be considered very carefully."

RIA Novosti wrote that the Russian navy was already in negotiations to build a permanent Black Sea Port in the Russia-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia.

First, the U.S. should strongly oppose even temporary Russian bases in Abkhazia so long as our position remains that the region is still part of Georgia. And in general, while these moves may prove to be largely symbolic, particularly if oil prices--a huge source of Russian revenue--remain low, it certainly indicates Russia will increasingly complicate the problem of protecting U.S. interests around the globe.